45 So. 628 | Ala. | 1907
— The plaintiffs (appellees) instituted this action for the loss of certain goods freighted by them to a station on appellant’s line of railroad. The shipment arrived at its destination and was. ready for delivery about noon of March 27,1905, and on that night was burned in appellant’s depot, which was then consumed without the fault or negligence of the appellant, its servants or agents. ■
The point taken and stressed is that the relation of carrier had terminated, and that of warehouseman.existed, at .,the time of the destruction of the property; Plea 2 sets up as the basis for this contention the following stipulation in the bill of lading: “No carrier shall be liable for loss or damage not accruing on its portion of the route, nor after said property is ready for delivery "to the consignee.” Being a stipulation intended to qualify or limit the common-law liability, it must be •strictly:construed against the carrier and in favor of the shipper. — 6 Cyc. pp. 409, 410, and notes; A. G. S. R. R. v. Thomas, 89 Ala. 294, 7 South. 762, 18 Am. St. Rep. 119. In this light we cannot take the term “carrier” as referring only to the transportative capacity of the company undertaking the duty in the premises. It refers tó the contracting entity, rather than to one of the capacities in which it serves the public. In other words, the .limitations borne by the clause are not confined in ef
- The plea asserts the position of appellant to ; be that the latter sentence in the clause was to effect a change of liability from that of a common carrier to that of a warehouseman. In support of this insistence Western Ry. v. Little, 86 Ala. 159, 5 South. 563, is cited; The stipulation of the bill construed in that case was a,s follows : “That the company Avill not hold themselves liable for damages (either from fire-or other cause) as common carriers, for any article after it has been transported to its place of destination, and been placed in the depot of the company.” ■ It is plain that the purpose of’the provision was to determine, upon the event, the more exacting liability of common carrier, and to allow the more immediate attaching of the less exacting liability of a warehouseman. The difference betAveen the stipulation there and here is palpable. We do not think there can be drawn from this clause any purpose to end the higher liability and submit'the rights of the parties to •the lesser. It is true the stages from acceptance for -transportation to delivery are' mentioned,. in a way, in the respective sentences .composing- the clause; biit from
The appellant insists that the affirmative charge erroneously took from the jury the inquiry whether a reasonable time had elapsed, after arrival of the goods and before their destruction, for the acceptance of the ship ment by the consignee. The rule is that, after the consignment is: ready for delivery at destination to the consignee, the custody as a common carrier will not cease by operation of law, and become that of a warehouseman, until the lapse of a reasonable time in which to accept the shipment. — Tallassee Co. v. Western Ry., supra; L. & N. R. Co. v. Oden, 80 Ala. 38. What is a reasonable time must necessarily vary with the circumstans ces attending each case, where the statute does not apply. Leading among influential conditions determining
■ There is no error in the record, and the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.